Abstract
Interactions between weeds and crops often occur by resource competition or allelopathy. However, it is still unknown how local weed species influence artificially introduced switchgrass. In this study, four experiments were conducted to evaluate the inhibitory effects of redroot pigweed (Amaranthus retroflexus) and crabgrass (Digitaria sanguinalis) on germination and growth of the lowland tetraploid switchgrass cultivar ‘Alamo’ (Panicum virgatum cv. Alamo). Switchgrass germination was significantly inhibited in Petri dishes, with 48.1% and 33.9% inhibitions on germination rate by redroot pigweed and crabgrass root aqueous extracts, respectively, at 0.1 g mL−1 concentration. Significant inhibitory effects on switchgrass seedling biomass were observed at 5:5 ratio with redroot pigweed and crabgrass in glass jars, with 61.6% and 53.4% inhibitions on plant biomass, respectively. Under the same root segregation, redroot pigweed had a stronger inhibitory effect on switchgrass seedling growth than crabgrass. Growth of transplanted switchgrass seedlings was significantly inhibited by local weeds in the field, with 46.2% and 11.7% inhibitions on shoot biomass during the first and second growing seasons, respectively. However, no significant growth reduction in switchgrass was detected in the third growing season. These findings further our understanding of weed–crop interactions and could help develop weeds management strategies with ecological security.
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We declare that materials described in the manuscript, including all relevant raw data, will be freely available to any scientist wishing to use them for non-commercial purposes, without breaching participant confidentiality.
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This study was funded by the Scientific and Technological Innovation Special Funds of Beijing Academy of Agriculture and Forestry (KJCX20200210 & KJCX20210419) and the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31971752).
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Hou, X., Hu, X., Yue, Y. et al. Inhibitory effects of redroot pigweed and crabgrass on switchgrass germination and growth—from lab to field. Plant Ecol 222, 1239–1250 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-021-01174-w
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11258-021-01174-w